Monday, March 1st, 2010...2:43 am
9th Cir: FMLA Damages, and Linear Fact-Finding
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On Friday, the 9th Circuit held that, in a case under the Family Medical Leave Act, 1) the judge, not the jury, decides whether to grant front pay, and how much; and 2) the judge must articulate reasons (related to good faith and reasonable belief) when she or declines to award liquidated damages.
On the first issue (the judge decides equitable issues), the court (Margaret McKeown) noted that the Supreme Court had said that front pay “is the monetary equivalent of the equitable remedy of reinstatement,” and then opined that “[d]eciding what amount would compensate for the inability to get a job back is not a form of linear fact-finding appropriately left to the jury.” Traxler v. Multnomah County, ___ F.3d ___ (9th Cir. Feb. 26, 2010)
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